Your Mess Is Mine
by FoolsRushIn
Summary: Fitz and Olivia figure out what 'whatever we want' actually means. Post S4 Finale. (No longer a oneshot!)
1. Mess Is Mine

**A/N: So, this fic has been floating around in my head since the finale. Every time I try to write anything else, I have writers' block, so this is my attempt to get it out of my system. As of right now, this is just a one shot but that could change! This is my first Scandal fic so I tried my best to get their voices down right. It's not perfect, but I hope you like it!**

* * *

 _Bring me to your house  
And tell me 'sorry for the mess'  
Hey, I don't mind  
You're talking in your sleep, all the time  
Well, you still make sense to me  
Your mess is mine_

 _\- Vance Joy, "Mess Is Mine"_

* * *

Fitz blinks several times- his eyes bleary with sleep- trying to focus on the numbers of the clock: _4:13_. As he wakes up more fully, everything from last night comes rushing back. Kicking out Mellie, firing Cyrus, Olivia coming to him at the White House. _Olivia._

He glances next to him and it only takes a couple seconds to figure out why he woke up in the first place. Liv is curled up in the fetal position, a frown on her face, and whimpering softly every so often. Instantly, he moves into action wanting to soothe her.

He runs a hand down her arm gently, which only tenses her body more. He tries to calm down, tries not to blame himself for what's happening to her right now.

"Liv, hey," he speaks loudly, hoping to break her out of whatever hell her subconscious has sent her to. "Livvie, wake up." He says a little louder this time, shaking her gently.

She bolts up with a start, breathing heavily.

"Hey, you're okay. I'm here. It was just a dream." Fitz runs his hand up and down her back as Liv's breathing slows and she leans into him. He sits back, letting the headboard prop him up and dragging Olivia with him so she's resting against his chest.

* * *

Olivia presses her nose against Fitz's chest and takes a deep breath, a sense of calm falling over her body. She snuggles closer to him. She knows they need to talk, to air all of their dirty laundry. She needs to talk to him about her kidnapping and her anger and what made her show up at the White House last night. And she wants Fitz to tell her about Mellie and Cyrus, why exactly he finally decided he had enough with the two of them.

It's up to her to start the conversation, she realizes after they lay in silence for a few moments. She assumes that Fitz doesn't want to push her, probably out of fear that she would run or shut down completely, and she can't say she blames him. Liv sighs quietly and tightens her hold around his waist. Feeling completely safe and secure, despite the nightmare she just had.

"I missed you." She admits, face still pressed into his chest, not looking up at him.

"I missed you too." She can feel Fitz looking down at her, so she glances up at him. He gives her a small smile, brushing some loose hair out her face. She sits up separating herself from Fitz but keeps eye contact, so he knows that she's not running again. She's in this for real this time.

"So, we need to talk."

* * *

Fitz chuckles at her choice of words and shakes his head.

"Breaking up with me already?" He jokes. Liv rolls her eyes, but there's a small smirk on her face, which allows him to breathe a sigh of relief. She looks away and starts to nervously fidget with the corner of the comforter on his bed. Fitz knows it's never easy for her to talk about anything, much less the heavy stuff they're about to get into, so he's going to make this as easy for her as possible. He sits up and reaches forward giving Liv's hand a brief squeeze.

"Okay, let's talk." He agrees, anxious to hash out their relationship and what exactly the events of the past few days mean for them. He watches as Liv gets her thoughts together, chewing on her bottom lip.

"I'm sorry," she finally says quietly, so quiet that Fitz almost misses it.

"You're sorry?" He asks confused, he hadn't been expecting that.

"For the past couple of months…pushing you away." He shakes his head and then watches Liv, waiting for her to make eye contact with him.

"Look at me," he requests gently and when she does he begins to speak. "You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for. You went through something traumatic-" he pauses for a second and closes his eyes. "Something that happened because of _me_ and I can't fault you for how you chose to deal with it."

"It was not your-" She immediately protests, but he cuts her off.

"It was!" He exclaims, all the guilt he's been burying since her kidnapping suddenly rising to the surface. "I should have done something more to protect you." He lets out a humorless chuckle. "I should have listened to you when you told me Andrew was wrong."

"Fitz, you couldn't have known." She touches his thigh gently, but he ignores it and gets out of the bed. He paces back and forth, running a hand through his hair.

"But I should have known, Liv! I am the President and you are one of the most important people in my life…enough people know that. You had a target on your back and I didn't even think about it." He's such an idiot. Why wouldn't he put more protection on her than Jake? She should have agents with her, or at the very least more security on her building.

"Okay, how would you have stopped it?" He's broken from his thoughts by Liv's question and he stops moving. He glances over at her.

"What?"

"Let's say you can go back in time, what would you have done to prevent the kidnapping?" She crosses her arms and stares at him. He's not quite sure what she's getting at, but she's clearly determined to get her point across. He shrugs.

"I don't know…put extra security on your building, given you a detail, cameras." He mentions, running through options in his head.

"We both know I wouldn't have agreed to any of those things." Fitz huffs and sits back down on the bed. He knows she's right, but that won't stop the guilt. It was his job to keep her safe and he failed.

"I should've-" He sighs. "I should've divorced Mellie as soon as I met you. I could've protected you."

* * *

Olivia can already tell that this is a conversation to be saved for another day. She runs her hand down Fitz's leg one last time and then sits back again. She thinks about what he said, _I should've divorced Mellie as soon as I met you._

Her mind instantly goes back to that night in the campaign bus… _what kind of a coward was I to marry her and not wait for you to show up?_ She remembers the flush she felt when he said that, how her heartbeat picked up at his confession, the warmth that settled in her chest.

She shakes the past out of her mind and focuses on the present.

"If it would've been as easy as divorcing Mellie, then I would agree. But, Fitz, it's not that simple." He scoffs.

"But it can be, I already kicked her out." He reminds her and she tenses slightly, thinking of the implications of it all.

"You're the President, you can't kick the First Lady out without repercussions." Olivia sighs trying to figure out how to deal with Mellie. "And we haven't even talked about Cyrus, who will definitely be back." Fitz shakes his head.

"I don't care about Mellie, and I definitely don't care about Cyrus." He reaches out for Liv's hand, interlocking their fingers. "I want to talk about us." She gives him a small smile, but before talk about 'them' can go any further she needs to know something else.

"Are you going to tell me why you kicked Mellie out?" Fitz raises an eyebrow at her, clearly not interested in this topic of conversation.

"You know why." He says offhandedly, not even looking at her. Liv shakes her head and shifts closer to him on the bed.

"I know what happened, but I don't know _why._ " It's true. She knows all about Mellie giving the names of the jurors to her father and the ensuing cover up, but she's still trying to understand why this was the final straw for Fitz. In order for them, her and Fitz, to move forward, she needs to understand the end of his marriage. She needs to know that he's divorcing Mellie because it's what he wants and not just because Olivia went back to him. He reaches for her hand and Liv allows him to lace their fingers together. He leans back, looking up at the ceiling.

"We were doing a lot better, Mellie and I. I was helping with her senate race, being the supportive husband, making up for all the years that I failed her." She watches as his face twists up in a grimace, she runs her thumb lightly across the back of his hand and he musters up a smile for her. "We were getting along, we were friends. I thought that we were a team. But she didn't tell me about any of it. Not the blackmail or the jurors or asking Cyrus for help." He shakes his head. "Here I am telling Mellie every time me and you are in the same room and she doesn't even have the common courtesy to let me know she was being blackmailed."

"They just wanted to keep you out of it, Fitz."

"I don't care." He retorts angrily and she shrinks back slightly, unsure whether he's angry at her for pushing the issue or angry at the situation. Liv gets her answer when he immediately reaches out for her, linking their fingers back together and squeezing her hand. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. I just- I'm so sick of everyone else dictating my life. Deciding what information I should know or what I should be able to do. This is _MY_ life!" His voice booms across the room, but Olivia stays calm.

Truthfully, she feels bad because she knows she's one of those people who kept things from Fitz, one of the people who decided things about his life, _their_ life, without him. But she's not going to do that this time. She's not running. She's going to stay and they'll figure out what happens next, together.

"Well, I said whatever we want," she grins at him, her tone playful. "So, what do you want?"

* * *

He can't help but smile at her attempt to lighten his mood, and it works.

"I just had about four hours of what I wanted…" He trails off with a smirk, leaning over to place soft kisses down her neck. Olivia giggles and the sound makes him so inexplicably happy.

"Fitz, I'm serious."

"Okay," he concedes, pulling away slightly so he can look into her eyes. "Liv, you already know what I want." She raises an eyebrow and he knows she's not going to let this go. He sits back up against the headboard and sighs. "I want to go see Mellie later this morning and give her the divorce papers that I've had drawn up for quite a while," he admits giving Liv a bashful smile, knowing she's going to chastise him for doing something as dangerous as drawing up divorce papers. He leans in, capturing her lips with his briefly in an effort to soften her up.

"Then this afternoon I'll announce my divorce to the press," he suggests with his face still inches from hers. He places a kiss on her jaw. "And then I'll need a date to the state dinner tonight…" Fitz moves away from Liv enough to look at her. She shakes her head quickly and pushes at his chest.

"You can't announce your divorce before Mellie even signs the papers." She tells him matter of factly.

"I have to, it's the only way she'll ever agree." Fitz makes sure there's no room for argument in his tone. He's thought about this a lot and he knows he has to back Mellie into a corner to get her to agree. At this point, he'll do whatever it takes.

"Fitz-"

"No, Liv, this is non negotiable. I'm announcing my divorce today." It must be the resoluteness in his voice, because she backs down immediately.

"Okay, but I absolutely cannot go to the State Dinner with you. It's too soon. Once your divorce is finalized, then we can discuss going public." He wants to push the issue but he knows it's a lot that Liv is even thinking about going public, so he decides to let it be for now.

"Fine, you don't have to be my date." She breathes a sigh of relief and he moves closer to her, pushing his face into the crook of her neck. "But will you come to the dinner?"

"What? No. I just said 'no.'" He can hear the frustration in her voice, but he can't resist teasing her.

"You've been to tons of State Dinners, Liv. No one would bat an eye if you were there. Not to mention, you're the best at what you do and with me going through a very public divorce, I'm going to need the best, which you always say you are."

* * *

He sends her a panty-dropping grin that once again reminds her of the campaign bus so long ago… _let's be inappropriate._

"You're really pushing your luck here, mister." She teases. And Olivia realizes this is what she missed most. Their friendship, their banter, the way he knows her, and she knows him. The moments when they could just be.

"Is it working?" She shakes her head and rolls her eyes, determined to stay immune to his charms. He trails kisses down her jaw and to her ear, gently tugging on the lobe. "Come to dinner, Livvie." He whispers huskily in her ear. She feels goosebumps rise on her arms and her heart starts beating faster and she's sure she'll agree to anything Fitz asks in that moment.

"Okay," she breathes out, arching her back and pulling him closer.

"Okay?" He pulls back just enough to look her in the eyes and she meets his gaze with certainty.

"Yeah, okay." She tries to keep the smile off her face and fails, biting her bottom lip as she breaks into a wide grin.

"Can I pick your dress?" He requests, a wandering hand trails up the inside of her thigh.

"Absolutely not, Mr. President." She tries to sound stern, but her voice comes out breathy and seductive. Fitz grins at her and her cheeks flush. She quickly recovers. "What fun is it if I can't surprise you?" Liv asks as she walks her fingers down his chest.

"Well, I am fond of surprises."

"I thought you'd see things my way," she says smugly, but it turns into a squeal when Fitz flips them over and positions her on top of him. He grabs onto the back of her head, pulling her in for a deep, bruising kiss. He pulls away several seconds later, her breathing ragged. He grins broadly at her breathlessness.

"Hi."

"Hi."


	2. First Day of My Life

**Okay, I lied this isn't a oneshot. I'm not sure who I was trying to kid, I started writing this chapter almost immediately after finishing the first one. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who left feedback! I'll try and get around to answering everyone! Anyway, I guess this story will be my take on Season 5?**

 **I was planning on putting the dinner in this chapter too, but it's already pushing 4,000 words so I'll save that for next time. I'm still working on getting the tone of the show down and everything so bear with me. Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Yours is the first face that I saw  
I think I was blind before I met you  
Now I don't know where I am  
I don't know where I've been  
But I know where I want to go  
-"First Day of My Life" by Bright Eyes_

* * *

Fitz grips the manila envelope holding his divorce papers tightly and takes a deep breath outside of Mellie's office. He had Secret Service check and he knows she's gathering the last of her things to move into her new office in Virginia. Now seems as good a time as any to talk to her. Besides, he doesn't want it to take up too much of his day. Liv promised she'd be back for lunch. He bites down on his grin and knocks on the door, stepping inside without waiting for a reply.

Mellie's head snaps up and she freezes instantly. They stare at each other for a few moments. Finally, Mellie scoffs. Any hope that Fitz had of this being a friendly, or at the very least civil, interaction immediately vanishes.

"If you're here to beg for my forgiveness, Fitzgerald, you can save it." Now it's Fitz's turn to scoff. _Beg for her forgiveness?_ Yeah, right.

"Actually I'm here because I have something for you." He gives her a broad, somewhat fake smile and throws the envelope onto Mellie's desk.

"What is it?" Her face drops and Fitz knows that she understands exactly what's in that envelope, but he's more than happy to say the words.

"Those are divorce papers." He informs her, feeling a weight lift from him. "I'm divorcing you." Mellie opens her mouth to speak up, but Fitz shakes his head. "Before you kick and scream and stomp your feet; just listen to me. Mutually. Assured. Destruction." He says taking a step closer to her with each word. "I know you have things on me, but I've got the same on you." Fitz grins at her before he continues.

"You can tell everyone about my relationship with Olivia, a rumor we already proved was false. And I can out your affair with Andrew." For the first time in the whole conversation, Mellie looks a little scared. "That's only the beginning of the folder I have full of your dirty, little secrets." He turns around to leave, hoping that was all the convincing she needed.

"Don't forget that I know all your dirty secrets too!" Mellie yells out as his hand touches the door handle. He faces her again.

"You're right," he concedes. "But you have a lot more to lose. I'm almost at the second half of my last term, I'll have to figure out what to do after, but my political career? Essentially over. You, on the other hand, are a Junior Senator, and I know your sights are set high." Fitz smirks when her eyes narrow at him, because he's right, and she knows it. He twists the doorknob again, this time with the intention of leaving. "I'm announcing the divorce this afternoon, the press conference is scheduled for 3 o'clock. I will tell the People it is an amicable split, irreconcilable differences, and joint custody of the kids. I will have nothing but glowing things to say about my lovely ex-wife." Fitz isn't necessarily happy about having to give compliments to Mellie in the press, but if it gets his marriage over with quicker- well, he's all for it.

"But make no mistake, Mellie, if you don't sign those papers by next week; I will not hesitate to go nuclear on you." He closes Mellie's office door and the click of the door sliding into place seems final. Immediately, he pulls out his phone. It rings 3 times before she answers.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"How's your day?" He huffs out a laugh in response.

"I just served Mellie with divorce papers, so pretty great."

"I'm so happy for you." Olivia says, but he can hear something else in her voice. Something isn't right.

"How's your day?" He asks, knowing if he pushes the issue outright she'll deny that anything is wrong.

"There's just a situation at OPA," she sighs heavily. "Nothing I can't handle."

"Liv?"

"We'll talk about it at lunch, okay?" She requests. "I'll tell you about it, I promise." He breathes a sigh of relief that she isn't going to keep this from him, whatever it is. He wants her to let him in and let him help her with her problems for a change. "So, how did Mellie take the news?" She asks after a moment of silence.

"Honestly? I don't know. I didn't let her get many words in."

"Fitz!" Her tone is scolding, but her chuckle gives her away.

"You know that's the best way to deal with Mellie."

"I know…" She agrees.

"Okay, get back to work. You have crises to mange, reputations to save. I'll see you in a couple hours." His voice is soft and happy.

"A couple hours," she echoes.

* * *

Olivia holds her phone for a second, unable to wipe the smile off her face, at least until Quinn interrupts her moment.

"Liv?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming." She shakes her head, pushing Fitz from her mind. She has to deal with this Huck situation. She doesn't know what to do about him. He's her gladiator, her protector. She can't let Quinn kill him, just because her father ( _her fucking father_ , she thinks) sunk his claws into Huck again.

Huck is seated at the head of the conference table, head down in defeat. Quinn stands facing him, her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. Liv rubs her temples, how had OPA come down to this? Olivia starts to pace at the other end of the table.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do. I'm going to talk to David and work something out for you. Or I'll find somewhere. Somewhere to send you, somewhere that can help." She decides, nodding to herself as a plan comes to her. "When you're better you can come back, you can still be a gladiator."

"I'm beyond help, Liv." Huck starts with a shaky voice. "Let Quinn put me down."

"No!" She yells. "No, that's not an option yet. We haven't tried everything." Huck and Quinn both look at her sadly, like she's not facing reality. And maybe she isn't, but Huck? Huck is the closest thing she's ever had to family; she's not giving up on him. "I'm going to get all of this worked out and then I have a lunch date, but when I get back…promise me you'll be here?"

She's desperate. She needs Huck to agree because she has to get out of this office to think rationally. She feels suffocated right now in OPA, the ghosts of her friends and of the past too present. Now, with Huck seemingly gone too, Liv isn't sure she can do this anymore. Not when everyone leaves or dies. She's supposed to be a fixer, but she feels as though she's failed them too many times now. When she comes out of her thoughts, she realizes Huck still hasn't answered her.

"Huck! Promise me!" She says it as more of a demand this time and her voice cracks at the end. Huck must hear it because his eyes snap to hers and he nods once. "Okay," she breathes, satisfied that he'll stay put for the time being. "I'll be back."

Liv heads straight for the White House after OPA. She briefly thinks about bringing the situation to David, but after the failure to expose B613…she's certain he wants little to do with her. Besides what if David is so hungry for some sort of justice, he sends Huck to jail? She can't risk it.

As she turns the corner to the press offices of the White House, she gets the same sense of déjà vu as always. It's funny now to look back at those early times at the beginning of Fitz's first term and think of them as simple, but compared to now that time in her life was simple.

She smiles at the bustle of activity: the chatter, the arguing, the news on every television. She misses this. She remembers when OPA was like this, the six of them always running around, always working on a case. Two reporters, who must've been working hard on something, cheer in the corner- one of them banging loudly on the desk. Olivia can't remember the last time that work was invigorating like that; mostly it had been hard and frustrating and dark. She frowns.

"Olivia Pope, what are you doing here?"

"Abby," she greets, spinning around to face the redhead. "Got time for a quick visit?" Abby nods and leads Liv into her office, shutting the door behind them.

"So, something important must be going on for you to come all the way here just to see me." She almost tells Abby that she's actually here to see Fitz, but she's still intensely private and she wants to keep this to herself, at least for a little while.

"Something's going on with Huck and I need you to tell me what the right thing to do is." She informs her. Abby raises her eyebrows and motions for Liv to continue. She begins to explain the situation from the beginning, leaving out the big illegal things- no one else needs to be burdened with information like this.

"Okay, Huck did something crazy, insane, terrible?" Abby glances over at her and Liv nods her head. "Something you're worried David would throw him in jail for?" She nods again. "And Quinn's only suggestion is to do something else crazy, insane, horrible? So you came to me for help?" Abby sighs and throws down the fork she was using to eat her salad. "I don't know, Liv, what do you think you should do?"

She gives Abby a small smile, appreciating her for giving her the opportunity to talk it through.

"With my father in jail…I think he could be safe here. But I can't watch him all the time to make sure he doesn't fall out of line. I can't stop him. And Quinn wouldn't let him stay anyway." Olivia feels her eyes well up with tears and she quickly tries to blink them away. "I feel helpless." She shakes her head. "I can't fix this. I can't fix Huck." Abby gives her a small smile and reaches over to pat Liv's hand.

"Liv, you're a crisis manager, not a people fixer. It's not your job to fix Huck and you haven't failed." Olivia nods, but she's still on the verge of tears. She knows Abby is right, but she's always felt a responsibility to the people around her- her gladiators in particular. She's the strong one, she keeps it together, and she fixes. "Oh, shoot! I gotta go. But I think I have an idea, for Huck. We'll talk later!" Abby shouts as she runs out of the office at lightening speed.

Olivia glances at her watch and figures by the time she makes it to the Oval, she'll only be a few minutes early. As she walks, her mind is still consumed with thoughts of OPA. She feels trapped. No matter what she does, she's abandoning someone. Either she sends Huck away or Quinn goes. There's got to be another way, there's got to be something she can do. She is Olivia Pope; she fixes problems for a living. She can handle this. Someone bumps into her- hard- jarring her out of her thoughts. She blinks, trying to bring herself back to the present, but suddenly she is _there._

She has flashes of being back in that dirty hallway, the red door at the end. She blinks and she's back in the West Wing. She blinks again and she's in that hallway. Her hand starts shaking uncontrollably and she finds a bench to sit down and close her eyes, before this turns into a full blown panic attack. Liv closes her eyes and takes several deep breaths- in and out, in and out.

Once she feels better, she can't help but laugh to herself. How does she expect to help Huck, or anyone else for that matter, when she can't even fix herself? _You're Olivia Pope,_ she reminds herself again as she gets up with determination and makes her way to the Oval.

"He's waiting for you." Charlotte greets her with a warm smile and nods toward the closed door. Ordinarily, Olivia would stop and make small talk, ask her about her day, but right now she just needs Fitz. She bursts into the Oval, Fitz is sitting on the couch with a speech in hand, his glasses on. Before he can stand to properly greet her, she is on the couch curled into his side and her face pressed into his neck. He wraps an arm around her and soothingly runs his fingers up and down her arm. She inhales his scent and she feels peaceful for the first time since she left this morning.

"Want to talk about it?" Fitz asks after pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"I think I want to close OPA." _She does?_ She hadn't even been thinking that until Fitz asked and that was the first thing that came out.

"You do?" He pulls away slightly to look down at her and Olivia forces herself to keep eye contact with him. She focuses on another point in the room when she answers him.

"I don't- I'm not- there's-" She struggles, since when had it been this hard for her to get words out? She never goes into a situation unprepared, but she had not been prepared to tell Fitz about this. Hell, she didn't even have time to work it out with herself yet. Fitz must sense this because he reaches for the speech he was working on and moves his hand from around her waist to her thigh.

"Hey, you don't have to talk about this now if you don't want to." He brushes his thumb across the top of her leg as a comforting gesture.

"Thank you," she says quietly. He gives her a smile so wide his eyes crinkle in the corners and she can't help but grin back at him. She glances over at his speech and notices it's the announcement of his divorce. She leans over grabbing the pen and papers out of his hands.

"Excuse me? What do you think you're doing?" He smirks.

"The Great Olivia Pope is editing the most important speech of your career." This, she can do. Writing speeches, getting the people on his side, she can handle this. All of her problems from earlier almost out of her mind.

"Well, by all means…" He gestures for her to continue as he reaches for one of the sandwiches positioned on the table.

* * *

Fitz smiles as he watches Liv work- her eyebrows creased in concentration, the pen between her lips as she tears his speech apart. He knows something is wrong- he could tell on the phone and he could see it on her face the minute she walked into his office. Not to mention, it was always unlike Liv to be so careless with affection in the Oval, but she practically threw herself into his lap. Yes, something is definitely wrong.

He figures now in the middle of their workdays is not the time to get into anything heavy. Besides, they'll have all night to talk about it when she comes over after the dinner. And she will stay the night. Fitz already knows it's going to be an uphill battle with Liv, particularly until his divorce is finalized, but he's tired of waiting. He just wants to be with her, in whatever way is possible. And sneaking her into the Residence after a State Dinner is a hell of a lot easier than sneaking her into the Residence when she's not supposed to be anywhere on the premises.

"So, what do you think?" He asks, seeing she's on the last lines of the speech.

"Not bad," she teases, handing it back to him with her changes. He chuckles. "I think this crazy plan of yours just may work." After a moment, she cocks her head to the side. "Provided Mellie plays her part."

"If Mellie wants to remain Senator of Virginia, she will play her part." Fitz mutters. "Besides I have a couple agents that I trust on Mellie, so if she moves even an inch out of line, I will know."

"Very smart, Mr. President." Fitz smirks.

"Do you have a kiss for your wildly intelligent president boyfriend?" Olivia throws her head back with a laugh and Fitz thinks he would give almost anything to have her laugh like that all the time.

"I believe I said very smart, not wildly intelligent."

"Po-tay-to, po-tah-to." He shrugs as he leans in. Liv hesitates glancing at the cameras on the ceiling. "Already taken care of." He murmurs, his lips inches from hers.

"Hmm, maybe you are wildly intelligent." She grins and kisses him slowly, sweetly. He pulls away after a second and moves the other sandwich to sit in front of Olivia, knowing full well that if he doesn't force her to eat she'll probably forget.

He leans back on the couch, reading over Liv's changes. His hand still rests on her thigh as she takes a bite of her sandwich.

When the door to the office bursts open, his new Chief of Staff walks in, closely followed by Abby, they both have their face buried in folders.

"Mr. President, you requested to see me…" Elizabeth trails off at the end as she looks up, taking in the sight.

"Me too," Abby says finally looking up, confusion on her face as she takes in Fitz and Olivia cuddled close on the couch. Fitz pretends as if this is normal, if he had his way this _would_ become the new normal. Liv glances hesitantly between the three of them, her gaze finally landing on Abby. She has some sort of silent conversation with Abby, before she turns to him and gives him a small smile.

"I'll get out of your way." Olivia stands up, but he's not going to let her go that easily. He grabs her hand, stopping her.

"You didn't finish your lunch, Livvie." He reminds her, gesturing to the not even half-eaten sandwich. "Besides, you promised to help me practice 'the most important speech of my career.'" He winks at her and she flushes and nods, before sitting back down. This time she puts a slight distance between them, which he doesn't like but he understands. When Liv picks up her sandwich, he turns towards Elizabeth and Abby.

"I'm sure you've both noticed that I have a speech scheduled for 3 PM today," Fitz begins and both women glance down at their itineraries and nod. "I'm going to be announcing my divorce." Abby's jaw drops and Elizabeth looks like she may have a stroke. "I know as a president it's unorthodox, but I am tired of being manipulated and stabbed in the back. I want to be happy and I want to start my life with someone I actually want to be there." He suppresses the urge to glance at Liv and instead stares Elizabeth down intently, waiting for what she has to say.

"While I have to advise against it for obvious reasons, if this is what you want, sir, we will make it happen." Elizabeth says and Fitz leans back satisfied.

"It's what I want."

"Mr. President, what would you like me to say to the press afterwards?" Abby interjects cautiously.

"That this divorce is a personal, private matter and will be treated as such." She nods and jots it down, as Liv begins to speak up for the first time since the women entered the room.

"Fitz, you know that won't work. The American People aren't going to accept that answer, they want the nitty, gritty." He sighs, he knows she's right but he does not want to get into his marriage at the press podium.

"I'll give an interview, a sit down with Kimberly Mitchell or something?" He suggests, glancing at Liv for her approval. She begins to nod and taps her fingers against the coffee table.

"In one week, after Mellie signs the papers. We'll schedule it. We can get some preliminary numbers in by then and see how your approval rating is holding up; maybe we can even get Mellie on board. The divorce will look much better if you two present a united front." He smiles proudly, as he watches her think through everything. If she's serious about closing OPA, then he'll be the first person to offer her a job. "Abby, prepare the press for Fitz to make a statement about his personal life. They'll start speculating the worst, so in a couple of hours when all you have to announce is a divorce, it won't seem quite as bad." Abby nods and gives Liv a meaningful look, before flashing them both a smile and exiting the room. When the door closes behind her, Fitz turns toward Elizabeth again.

"I do not want anything getting out about Olivia and I until we're ready. As of right now the divorce is just a normal next step for two people who aren't in love with each other anymore. This has nothing to do with career ambitions or other people. This is about Mellie and I being much happier apart than together."

"Yes, sir." She nods once and then follows Abby out of the office.

"I think we handled that pretty well." Fitz comments once he's alone with Olivia again.

"You're a pretty great leader, Mr. President." He shakes his head adamantly.

"That was all you, baby." He presses a kiss to her temple.

* * *

Hours later, Liv is standing at the door to the Oval. She's straightening his tie and buttoning up his suit, something she's done a million times before; but the significance of this moment is not lost on her. She's jittery and nervous and her hands are trembling slightly as she buttons up his jacket. She glances up at Fitz and he's smiling down at her, completely calm.

"Whatever happens, we are going to be okay, okay?" She nods. "You are my endgame, not this presidency." For so long those words struck fear into her heart. If Fitz gave up his presidency for her, she would always wait for the day when he grew to resent her. But today, right now, she feels warmed by them. Perhaps it's because she knows if she would've walked away from Fitz again last night, he still would have announced his divorce today; she just wouldn't have been waiting at the end of it. But she wants to be with him. Liv wants thousands of mornings of buttoning his jacket and tying his tie. ( _And thousands of nights unbuttoning it and taking it off,_ she thinks). She wants this.

"It's going to be great." She confirms, allowing herself to feel truly and genuinely happy for once.

"It's going to be great." He grins and just like that, he's gone. She waits a few seconds before she heads to the East Room, standing in the back. Obscure enough to not be noticed, but visible so that Fitz can find her.

He steps up to the podium, standing tall and proud. Olivia can't help but be turned on by how presidential and in control he looks, as he begins to speak.

"My fellow citizens- that's how I'm addressing you this afternoon- because, I, just like you, am a citizen, a normal person: a person who has problems, who goes through hard times. With that being said, I am here today to announce my divorce from the First Lady."

And then all hell breaks loose.


	3. One

**Hi, your responses to this story have been so nice and encouraging. Thank you guys for each and every review, favorite, follow, etc! I appreciate them all. If I don't get back to you, I'm so sorry! Life gets crazy. Only four more days until Season 5, I'm really trying not to freak out but I am REALLY freaking out. Anyway, hope you like this chapter.**

* * *

 _Take my hand,  
and my heart and soul,  
I will only have these eyes for you_

 _\- Ed Sheeran, "One"_

* * *

"Olivia Pope, you have some serious explaining to do." Abby starts the minute she returns to her office.

Liv had dipped out of the press conference once Fitz was done speaking. She walked back to the Oval with him and assured him that he would see her tonight at the State Dinner. But she needed to talk to Abby and she definitely had to go back to OPA before the dinner.

"I'm sorry-" But Abby continues talking almost as if she hadn't tried to interject.

"So, you knew this morning when you were in here that the POTUS was about to make my job a million times harder and you didn't even give me a heads up?" Abby looks at her sternly, a hand on her hip. "Not to mention, my best friend didn't see fit to tell me that she's apparently dating the Leader of the Free World again?" Liv nods and takes everything Abby dishes out, knowing she deserves it to a certain degree.

"It happened last night." Olivia finally admits. She wants to talk to someone about this and she knows Abby's the one person she can trust. "After I put my father away…" She pauses and thinks back to last night, wondering how her life had changed so drastically, so quickly. She doesn't know exactly how to tell Abby what happened without getting a little more personal than she's comfortable with. But Abby's her best friend, she reminds herself, if she can't talk to her then whom can she talk to?

"Jake told me that no matter what I'd always be in love with Fitz," she says quickly and continues talking before Abby can fully process that statement. "And he was right, so last night I came here- just to talk." Olivia clarifies; it definitely had not been in her plans to start a future with Fitz last night. Maybe talk about it- but actually going ahead and being together? She didn't expect that. "But he had already kicked Mellie and Cyrus out," she sighs and shakes her head. "And we'd been apart so long- I'm sorry." Liv finally ends her half-coherent rant and looks back up at Abby, who's smiling.

"I was just kidding, Liv. I'm not mad. I know you like your privacy and if you're happy, then that's all that matters." Abby pauses. "And if you could keep the President happy, that would also make my job a lot easier." Liv laughs at her friends joke and nods. "So, you two planning anything else crazy today? Gonna be his date to the dinner tonight?" Liv blushes thinking of earlier this morning when he'd tried to convince her and Abby's eyes widen. "Liv, please do not do this to me today!"

"Don't worry, I will be attending the dinner, but not as Fitz's date. You're safe."

"Well, in that case, talk to your very important boyfriend and make sure you're seated at my table."

"I think that can be arranged." Olivia assures her friend.

"Great!" Abby finally plops down in her chair behind the desk and starts rifling through all the folders she was carrying. She pulls out a piece of white paper that's blank except for a few quick scribbles that looks like a name and phone number.

"Do you remember my sort of crazy cousin, Elise?" Liv nods, vaguely remembering Abby's family tree from the couple times she went home with her for the holidays when they were still in school. "Well, last year she kind of had a meltdown. Told some guy she was pregnant when she wasn't and then stole a baby to make him believe her, anyway, we had to send her away after that, obviously. It looked like she might go to jail for a little while, but my aunt knows someone and convinced them to send her to some sort of rehab place in Sweden." Abby explains, passing the piece of paper to Liv.

"It's safe?" She's worried about potentially sending Huck away to live in another country. She knows what happens when Huck is left on his own- she can still remember the sad eyes that looked at her that first day in the subway station. There's no way she can abandon him.

"They provide housing and all meals. It's a controlled environment. It's what Huck needs." Liv nods, thankful to Abby for being her voice of reason. "After a few months, you can go up there and check on him. If he seems okay…" Abby shrugs. "Then maybe Quinn will be ready for him to come back to OPA." If there's even an OPA to come back to, Liv can't help but think to herself.

"Now go back to the office, because I have about every major news agency breathing down my neck right now." Liv smiles sympathetically at her friend and nods, standing up and gathering her things. "I'll see you tonight!" Abby cheers happily as Liv leaves. She smiles, happy that her friendship with Abby finally seems to be back on track.

"I'll see you tonight."

* * *

Fitz leans back in his chair, feet propped up on his desk, a grin on his face- decidedly ignorant to the chaos going on outside the walls of his office. For the first time since he made the mistake of marrying Mellie, he finally feels free. Totally and 100% free. In this moment, he knows he's never been happier. He sighs when his phone starts ringing; he needs to answer it. Well, he had had a nice five minutes of blissful ignorance before his bubble had burst.

"Yes, Charlotte?" He hears the hesitance from his secretary and now he's certain that he will not like whatever she has to say.

"Sir, I have the First, um, Mrs. Gr-" Charlotte stutters over her words. "Your w- ex-wife on the line and she's requesting to speak with you."

"Put her right through, thanks." He smirks and taps his hand on the desk impatiently, ready to battle Mellie. Before he can say anything, Mellie's voice comes through.

"What on earth were you thinking?" She asks, her voice low and deadly.

"What can I do for you, Melody?"

"You can go back in time and take back your ridiculous statement about the divorce."

"You knew this was coming." Fitz sighs. "I'm tired of playing games with you, Mel. I'm getting this divorce. It can be easy or it can be hard, but it's all up to you." He subtly reminds her that in the end, he holds all the cards for once and he can hear her huffing on the other side of the line. Finally for the first time _ever_ , Fitz has the upper-hand. Although when he helped Mellie run for the senate it was never with the intention of holding it over her head, he realizes the whole thing has worked out in his favor quite well.

"What about the kids? Are you even thinking of them?" Fitz can't hold back the snort that escapes at that statement.

"I talked to Karen this morning, she didn't seem to care much. In fact, I think her exact words were 'it's about time'. As for Teddy, well, he's hardly experienced us in the same room, unless it's for a photo op, so I think he'll be okay."

"How dare you! The minute I get any success of my own, you're just going to take it away! When will it be my time to do what I want?!" Fitz pinches the bridge of his nose and reminds himself that Mellie was once his friend and that she's sill the mother of his children.

"I am not taking anything from you, Mellie. All I ask is that you sign the divorce papers I gave you this morning. I will support any of your future political endeavors, but I want this divorce and if I have to play dirty to get it, then I will." He ends his statement with his voice little more than a growl. "I'm doing a sit down with Kimberly Mitchell next week. I will either be airing all of our dirty laundry or _you_ will be by my side as we discuss our mutual decision to end a marriage that was no longer working."

"I should have known," Mellie says cryptically and Fitz resists the urge to throw the phone across the room.  
"What are you talking about?"

"Olivia, you're back in her good graces, right? That's where all this divorce talk came from. I'm not signing the papers, Fitz. You can go right back on TV in a week when Olivia decides she's sick of you again, and tell the American People it was a mistake. I don't care. But I'm not getting a divorce because Olivia Pope decided to spread her legs for you again." Fitz closes his eyes and takes several deep breaths to curb the rage he's feeling.

"I will get this divorce with or without Olivia by my side." He slams down the phone without waiting for Mellie's reply. Like always, she had gotten inside his head, but he talks himself down. Liv isn't going to walk away this time; he knows it. This time- it feels different than before.

* * *

When Liv gets back to OPA, she's met with silence and an empty conference room. She already knew Quinn had left after their brief phone call a little earlier, but Olivia hopes Huck kept his promise and stayed put. She takes a deep breath and throws her things down on the table, ready to search the entire office for Huck. She turns around and Huck is standing in the doorway, watching her.

"I'm not good for your life, Liv. You have to let me go. I'm not a gladiator anymore." Tears well up in her eyes and she shakes her head.

"You'll always be a gladiator."

"I did bad things." Huck's eyes are wide and slightly crazed. "I did really bad things."

"We all do bad things, that doesn't mean we're bad people."

"I think I am, Liv." She shakes her head and hesitantly steps closer to him.

"Abby gave me a name of a place, a place that she thinks can help." Olivia tells him, hoping she can get him to agree to this.

"What do you think?"

"Well, I called and talked to them and I think they can help too. Could you give it a try? For me? For Kim and Javi?" Olivia grabbed the sides of Huck's face and forced him to make eye contact. "You might be able to come back from this. My father can't get to you anymore." Huck nods hesitantly at first, then it gets stronger.

"I'll go."

"Okay, will you let Quinn take you up there?" She had called Quinn almost immediately after leaving Abby's office and told her the plan. It took a little convincing to get Quinn on board, but at the end of the day Huck is family and she knows Quinn can't deny that. "I want to, but I-"

"I understand, Liv, Quinn can take me. I'll be good." Olivia nods and blinks, trying to keep the tears at bay. Quinn walks fully into the office then and Liv watches her give Huck a small smile. Liv wraps Huck up in a tight hug.

"You're coming back, in a few months. You're coming back." She says confidently. Huck walks out with barely a nod in her direction. She grabs Quinn's forearm and they make meaningful eye contact. "Take care of him?"

"Of course. I'll call you when we get there."

"Thank you." Olivia watches Huck and Quinn take their leave. She doesn't turn away until they're out of the hallway and in the elevator. She braces herself against the wall once their gone, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. When she opens them again, she sighs heavily and looks around at how dark and empty OPA looks. She quickly makes her way to her office and sits in her chair, swiveling to stare out the window at the view that convinced her to buy this office in the first place, one of the reasons she loves this place most. She reaches for her phone and is dialing Fitz's number before she can talk herself out of it.

"Liv?" He can hear the worry in his voice, probably because she left the White House less than three hours ago.

"I had to send Huck away." She responds in a quiet, sad voice.

"What?"

"He, um, did something. My father-" She gasps out a breath. "My father made him do something and I had to send him somewhere."

"Liv…I'm so sorry." She nods in thanks even though Fitz can't see her. "If you don't feel up to coming tonight," he starts hesitantly.

"No!" She shouts automatically. "I want to come." She assures him. "I need to see you." She says, her voice just above a whisper.

"Spend the night? With me?" He asks softly. "We have a lot to talk about and I want to get this all ironed out. Besides any excuse to have you in my bed will do." He jokes in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, yes. I want to." It might be risky, but things have been so crazy today and she can't imagine not having time alone with him at the end of it. "I'll pack a bag."

"Daniel will bring you tonight."

"Fitz I-"

"I can't properly escort you, but I am going to have one of my agents pick you up. No arguments." She tries to be annoyed, but she can't help the smile that spreads across her face at his insistence.

"Okay," she concedes.

"Good." He sounds smug but she doesn't have it in her to be mad at all. "Now I've got to start making myself look pretty for tonight."

"Oh? Hot girl to impress tonight, Mr. President?" She lets her voice drop, low and seductive at the end. Fitz groans.

"Well, as you know I announced my divorce today so it really is anyone's game…" He trails off and Olivia can hear the smirk in his voice. She rolls her eyes.

"Okay, Casanova. If you're so excited for new company, I guess I'll just stay home tonight."

"No, no! I was kidding." She smiles as he immediately changes his tune. "You know you're the only one I want, Livvie." She can't help the chill that runs through her when hearing his deep, baritone voice drop several octaves.

"I'll see you at dinner." She says quickly, hanging up and throwing her phone into her purse. She smirks to herself and stands up. She knows just the dress she's going to wear tonight.

* * *

Fitz plasters on a fake smile as he greets another person in the receiving line. It's the first time he's ever had to do this alone and, honestly, it's fine; it's not as though Mellie was much company anyway. It's almost a relief to have no one to worry about but himself.

He heaves a sigh as he glances at the line of people that still have yet to come in. He's about to shake the hand of the next person in line when he sees Olivia come in. Abby's by her side, but he barely notices. Liv's dress is a black, slinky number with a slit that's just on the border of inappropriate and he wants to get on his knees and thank God that's she's going home with him tonight.

The rest of the time she's in line, Fitz is watching no one but her. He greets about 20 people, but he couldn't tell you who any of them are. When she finally reaches him, he shakes her hand and pulls her forward so she's standing less than six inches from him. He knows it's dangerous but he couldn't care less.

"You look incredible tonight, Ms. Pope."

"You clean up pretty well yourself, Mr. President." He grins down at her mischievously.

"You'll be sure to save me a dance?" Her eyes narrow and he knows he's pushing his luck, but he's willing to take the risk.

"You just announced your divorce today, you shouldn't be dancing with any single women," she says in her business voice, glancing around furtively to make sure they're not overheard.

"Well, good. I don't want to dance with any single women, just you. And you are very, very taken." He tries to tamp down his smirk when Liv's cheeks flush with color. "All I want is one dance, are you really going to deny me?" She bites her bottom lip and he knows she's trying to prevent a grin of her own.

"Fine, one dance."

"Great, well, I will see you later to collect on that." He says bringing his back to a normal volume and level, as if their conversation was totally innocent. He squeezes her hand one last time and then turns to the next guest in line.

* * *

Olivia sits next to Abby at a table full of other White House Press Staff. She's half-engaged in the conversation and half tracking Fitz's movements through the room. She loves seeing him like this- in his element, charming the crowd, making everyone fall in love with him. Her smile slowly morphs into a frown while she watches him interact with Elizabeth North. She's had a bad feeling about the woman from the beginning, only intensified by the fact that she was involved in her kidnapping, but when Fitz told her about his new COS appointment- well, she thought she owed it to him to give Elizabeth a shot. But she still definitely doesn't trust the woman. She turns to Abby and is sure to keep her voice quiet.

"What do you think of Elizabeth?" Abby turns all of her attention towards Liv and she does the same.

"I don't like her, I'm not even sure I trust her. I was surprised The President chose her to replace Cyrus." Liv nods in agreement, happy that Abby is validating her feelings.

"Cyrus was a monster, but he was a monster I knew. And at the end of the day, I know he thinks he has Fitz's best interests at heart. She could care less about Fitz. I'm just w-" She starts to blab and Abby nods knowingly.

"You're worried about him. It's cute, y'know. You, all worried about your man." She feels her cheeks heat up, but Abby just smiles at her. "I'll keep an eye on her for you, let you know if I see anything fishy."

"Thank you," Liv says genuinely.

"Hey-" Abby starts to say, but she's interrupted by another voice.

"I'm here to collect on that dance." Fitz's deep voice invades her ear. Olivia turns to him, slightly startled.

"You've only had one other dance tonight." She reminds him and he nods, looking uninterested in that fact.

"Fitz, I can't be your second dance of the night." She continues to protest. She knows people will talk if she's his second dance. Liv's not even sure if the public has forgotten about all those affair rumors from his reelection campaign. And with his divorce just being announced today…she thinks a dance this early in the night would definitely have eyes on them.

"You can and you will." Fitz insists, holding his hand out for her to take. "I'm not going away until you agree." Her eyes slide over to Abby who nods encouragingly. Olivia places her hand in his and allows him to lead her to the dance floor. He wraps one of her hands in his and places the other low against her back- holding her close. She forces herself to ignore all of the stares she can feel and the click of cameras that have started and just focus on being here, with Fitz. She knows that the hard part hasn't even begun yet. Mellie hasn't signed the papers, she and Fitz haven't come out as an official couple yet. But for the first time she doesn't feel like their relationship is in the shadows. She feels like they're standing in the sun.

* * *

"I'm glad you came tonight." Fitz murmurs into her ear as he walks up behind her in his bedroom. The first few buttons of his shirt are undone and he slings his arm around her waist, caressing her stomach.

"Me too." He slowly lowers the zipper on her dress. Liv slips out of it and grabs his Navy shirt that he carelessly tossed over a chair this morning. He smiles as his shirt swallows her up and he begins to undress as well.

"So, are we going to talk about your crazy day? And why you think you want to close OPA?" Olivia takes a seat in the middle of his bed, crawling under the covers enough so her legs are covered. Fitz continues to take off his cufflinks and shirt, as Liv starts to talk. He knows she's likely to be more open if his entire attention isn't focused on her.

"I don't have the same passion for it that I used to. Fixing doesn't feel the same. OPA doesn't feel the same. At this point, Quinn and I are the only ones left." She shakes her head and Fitz's heart breaks at how utterly lost she looks. "I just don't know what to do." She admits. He abandons the pretense of being distracted and goes to sit directly in front of her.

"Maybe you just need to get some new blood in there. Make the place feel alive again. You're never going to get your drive back, if you don't try." Fitz places a finger under her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Unless you think closing OPA is what you need to do to be happy. If that's the case, you already know you have my full support. But if you're just upset about Huck, which is understandable, then give yourself a couple weeks off and go back and find some new gladiators. Do you know how many people would kill to work with _THE_ Olivia Pope?" He asks her, moving up the bed towards her, so he's hovering over her.

"You're right," she finally says, her head nodding once decisively.

"Can you say that again?" Fitz teases and nips at her collarbone. She grabs his face in her hands and pulls him up to her so that they're face to face.

"You. Are. Right." She tells him as she punctuates each word with a kiss to his lips. He leans in, trying to deepen the kiss but she pulls away. He can't help the groan of discontent that escapes. "Are we going to talk about your day?" He huffs and drops his head onto her shoulder.

"Same old, same old. Solving world crises and more of Mellie being Mellie." Liv immediately tenses underneath him and he wants to kick himself for bringing up his soon-to-be ex-wife. "But I really don't want to talk about her while I'm in bed with you." He looks at her, but a slight frown has taken over her face.

"What did she want?"

"More of the same, Liv. She wants me to stop the divorce, I refused, she threatened to go to the press, and I threatened right back."

"It doesn't look good that she hasn't released a statement about the divorce yet." He nods in agreement. He'd been thinking the same thing earlier.

"I know."

"She's not going to make this easy." Fitz gives her a lopsided smile and nods.

"I never thought she was, but I need you to sit back and let me deal with Mellie on my own, please?" He requests. All of the times in the past when their relationship started to break down, it was almost always a result of Liv working behind his back. Particularly where Mellie was concerned. He didn't trust her not to get inside Olivia's head and talk her out of the decision she had made to be with him. This time he wants to deal with Mellie all on his own, with no interference from Olivia or Cyrus. Fitz knows that he has the upper hand here and if he can wait out her temper tantrum, then she'll sign the papers. He just needs Liv to stay far away from the whole thing.

"Okay, I'll agree to that." He knows she's adding a mental 'for now' in her head, but he's confident that this divorce thing will shake out easier than everyone thinks.

"Good." He says with a satisfied smile. "Now, can we get back down to business? He asks, once again hovering over her.

"Business?" She questions with a raised eyebrow, he nods and slides down her body, placing sporadic kisses on her stomach.

"Business." He echoes sliding her underwear down her legs and tossing them over his shoulder.


	4. Poison & Wine

**I think all the promos must have been giving me inspiration or something, so here's an update! I can't decide if I'm more terrified or excited for tomorrow but I can't wait. Thanks for all the kind words about the previous chapters and I hope you enjoy this one!**

* * *

 _I wish you'd hold me when I turn my back.  
_ _The less I give, the more I get back.  
_ _Your hands can heal, your hands can bruise.  
_ _I don't have a choice, but I'd still choose you._

 _\- The Civil Wars, "Poison & Wine"_

* * *

Olivia's mind had been running a mile a minute since she woke up an hour ago. She had woken up around 4 AM and checked her phone to see a message from Quinn that Huck was left safely at the treatment center. Then, her mind had switched to OPA. Now, she keeps going over what Fitz said last night about starting fresh and new blood bringing the excitement back. She isn't sure if that's what she wants or if she wants to start something new altogether.

There's a presidential election in two years, it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility for her to return to campaign politics, rather than fixing. Although running a campaign tends to be an offshoot of crisis management, there's something so thrilling about going through polls and writing speeches and getting _her_ person elected, even if it's not Fitz this time.

"You're thinking too loud." Fitz rumbles into her ear, tightening his grasp on her waist.

"How long have you been awake?" She asks curiously; she didn't think she was _that_ in her own head.

"About five minutes, your thinking woke me up." He kisses her shoulder. "So, what's going on in that head of yours?" Liv rolls over so she can look at him. He props his elbow on the pillow, leaning on his hand and looking down at her.

"I was thinking about what you said yesterday, hiring new people for OPA," she clarifies.

"And?" He prompts when she doesn't continue and she sighs.

"And I'm going to go to the office today and look through all the resumes we've gotten over the years…but I'm not sure it'll be enough." Liv admits sadly. Opening up her own firm had seemed like a dream come true years ago, and part of her thinks maybe it's because she had Stephen and Abby and Huck and Harrison (and later, Quinn) by her side. Liv doesn't let herself get close to many people, but they were her family. And yeah, maybe she does have Fitz now but she still misses her friends and she's not sure that this whole thing is as easy as finding replacements for them.

"Okay," Fitz nods, looking at her expectantly. She gives him a thankful smile for allowing her to think this through out loud. She pushes Fitz's arm off of her waist and stands up, beginning to pace around in circles next to the bed. Fitz leans back against the headboard, watching her with a small smirk on his face.

"What?" She asks and he shrugs.

"I love watching you work through things." He pushes the covers off his legs and gets off the bed, walking around to meet Liv on the other side. Her heart rate picks up and she can't help but smile when Fitz pulls her into his arms.

"You're really messing up my process, mister." She comments resting her head on his shoulder, her forehead pressed into his neck. He chuckles.

"You're Olivia Pope, you already know what you're going to do. So why don't you tell me your brilliant idea, then we can get back in bed and enjoy the next 45 minutes before the real world interrupts?" He suggests. Fitz trails his hands up and down her back, one pushing the shirt she's wearing slowly up her body.

"I want to try managing another campaign, possibly." She finally says, a little worried about how he'll react. She knows Fitz is always supportive of her career and her aspirations, but it's strange to think about possibly managing a presidential campaign that isn't for Fitz. "Would that be too weird for you?" Liv asks, not looking at him. He pulls away slightly to look down at her.

"Liv, don't let me affect your career decisions." He says softly and raises a hand to stroke her cheek. "I have two years left in office," _provided Mellie doesn't decide to play extremely dirty,_ she thinks. "And after that my only plans include lots and lots of babies with you." He rubs their noses together and plants a quick kiss on her lips. "Okay?"

"Okay," she agrees.

"Now, can we go back to bed?" She giggles at his exasperation and nods. Fitz suddenly wraps his hands around her waist and lifts her up, causing her to squeal. He smirks and tosses her onto the bed and then climbs in after her.

"How much time do we have?" Liv asks breathlessly, his lips an inch from hers.

"A half hour, give or take." He mumbles against her lips.

"Better make the most of it then." She flips them over, startling Fitz and straddling his hips

"I like the way you think." He agrees and grabs a handful of her hair to pull her into a kiss.

* * *

By mid-afternoon, Fitz is sitting at his desk in the Oval reading over a new policy proposal, but Olivia's not far from his mind. He wants to call and see how she's doing, but he also doesn't want to be overbearing. Although this time with Olivia now seems different than any other time they were together before, he's still a little cautious. He is not trying to push his luck and do something that will make her run.

Despite the fact that they spent most of the last twenty-four hours together, they still haven't had _the talk_. And it has him on edge every time she's not in his company. He's worried that someone will make a comment or ask her a question that will spook her, and they'll be back to square one. He's broken out of his thoughts by a knock on the door.

"Come in," he shouts. Elizabeth and Abby both enter. Abby greets him with a smile.

"Sir, we have the preliminary poll results back after your divorce announcement." Elizabeth informs him, dropping a file on his desk. He pages through and glances at the numbers briefly.

"Hit me with it," he says mildly amused.

"Well, you're doing fine with men- of course," Abby grumbles the last part under her breath and Fitz smirks. "Most of the 18-25 demo doesn't seem to care about your marriage one way or another, but you're hemorrhaging with women."

"You have a 20% approval rating with women right now." Elizabeth says and Fitz lets out a low whistle.

"Women won't be able to decide how they feel until Mellie speaks out and right now, with her lack of statement it looks-" Fitz nods.

"It looks like I want this and she doesn't."

"You need to get Mellie to make a statement." Elizabeth informs him and Fitz closes the file to look at her.

"Mellie will make a statement one way or another by Monday." He assures them.

"Monday? That's almost a week from now, that won't work. It needs to be sooner." Elizabeth immediately shuts him down and Abby looks between the two. He shakes his head.

"I told Mellie she has until Monday to make a decision about how she wants to handle this. So, she has until Monday." Fitz says with authority, ending the discussion.

"Sir, with all do respect, if the First Lady isn't on board maybe you should-" Elizabeth starts to suggest but Fitz slaps his hand down on the desk, startling her.

"I will be getting a divorce. It's not up for discussion or debate. The divorce is happening, whether I can maintain my approval ratings or the public's opinion of me, I don't care. I am going to divorce Mellie and I will be with Olivia openly- poll numbers be damned." He says seriously standing behind the Resolute Desk, staring Elizabeth down. "I've had members of my team work behind my back before and I will not stand for it this time, so either you will help me through this or I'll start looking for a new Chief of Staff."

"Yes, sir. I'm behind you." Elizabeth nods, gathering her things. "I'll make some calls and look at getting some prominent party members on your side. "

"Thank you." Fitz says as she leaves the office. "Abby?" Fitz prompts the redhead, who's still standing there.

"Oh yeah," she says coming to attention and pulling a few papers out of her folder. "Liv asked me to gather any articles I could find after the dinner last night- anytime your names were mentioned side by side. Luckily, it seems most of America bought that you two were friends after your reelection campaign; so very few articles mention Liv. However, you danced with several other single women last night, so there's a lot of speculation." Abby informs him and hands him the papers, which he skims and shuffles through.

"How much of a problem is this?" She shrugs.

"Until you and Mrs. Grant make more in-depth statements, the country will speculate. You can afford a week, anymore than that and it will be tough to bounce back from this, sir."

"Thank you, Abby." He says and turns back to the proposal he had been reading. He's grateful to have Abby as his press secretary, now more than ever with his divorce and his ultimate goal to go public with Liv. He glances over at Abby when he notices her hovering by the door. "Can I help you with something?"

"I just-" She starts and he almost prepares himself to be reamed out by her again, on Liv's behalf, but Abby smiles at him. "You make her happy. Really happy. Probably the happiest I've ever seen her. So don't let her push you away, because you and I both know she'll try to eventually, but she does want to be with you." He breathes a sigh of relief at hearing those words from maybe the only person who knows Liv like he does. Abby gives him one more small smile before leaving.

He stands up and walks over to the window, looking down over the Rose Garden and replaying all the information he just got over in his head. He knows now more than ever he has to get Mellie on board with the divorce; he does not want to drag Liv's name through the mud anymore than he already has, he owes her that. And as much as Mellie is frustrating and infuriating at times, he has no desire to ruin her public reputation or political career. With that in mind, he picks up his phone and dials Mellie's number.

"Ready to come crawling back yet?" She sings into the phone before he can even speak.

"No, I want to know what it will take to get you to agree to this divorce." He says in a hard tone.

"I already told you, I refuse to get a divorce simply because Olivia's back in your life for the moment." He sighs and rubs at his eyes.

"This isn't even about Olivia."

"Oh, it isn't?"

"No, Mellie, this is about you and me needing a divorce before we end up hating each other more than we already do. I've already announced; you're avoiding the inevitable here. So what will it take?" There's a long, eerie silence on the other end of the line, before Mellie speaks again.

"You have some nerve, Fitzgerald, after all that I've done for you." He groans.

"I'm so tired of this, aren't you? I want to be happy and I want you to be happy too." Mellie laughs, but it's humorless and the sound gives Fitz chills.

"Olivia may make you happy, but do you really think she's in this with you? Please, Fitz, I've lived this through more times than I count. Olivia does not want to be forever tied to Fitzgerald Grant, the President who couldn't keep it in his pants. I mean, really honey," he bristles at the use of that name towards him. "Olivia has one of the most successful careers in Washington, you think she's going to give all that up just to be with you?" And just like that all the confidence that Abby's words had given him is gone.

"You have until Monday," he growls and hangs up the phone. He wants to kick himself for trying to play nice with Mellie. He knows by now that doesn't work and he allowed her to get inside his head. He feels on edge now, because Mellie hit his major insecurities he had when it comes to his relationship with Olivia.

He's always worried that he won't truly be enough for her, that she'll always resent him if he costs her the reputation she worked so hard to build, or even- _No, stop thinking the worst_ , he tells himself. He shakes the negative thoughts from his head. He needs to stop waiting for the other shoe to drop. Mellie and Cyrus are gone; he's with Liv. There's no one to get into Liv's head and convince her that his presidency is worth more than their relationship. They're going to make it through this time, although he wishes he had just a bit more confidence that they would indeed make it.

* * *

Olivia tiredly rubs at her eyes as she pushes another resume and cover letter through the shredder. She's been at this the last two hours, shredding the useless ones and keeping the ones that impressed her in another pile on her desk. Regardless of what she decides to do next, whether it's managing a campaign or continuing on with crisis management or something else, she will need a staff.

She sighs and rests her head back on the chair, closing her eyes. Part of her wants to say 'screw it' and just move to Vermont and have babies with Fitz and never think about Washington again, but she knows that wouldn't work. Even if, she has to suck in a breath at the thought, but even if her and Fitz ever did have children; Liv knows herself well enough to know she would still want her career, in whatever capacity that would be. She can't bring herself to walk away completely.

For the first time though, Liv is willing to put both their careers after their relationship. She's so tired of being lonely and barely making it through the day. She wants a life with Fitz and if she has to choose, then she will, but at the end of the day; Liv really wants both of them to come out of this on the other side with their reputations as in tact as they can possibly be after a presidential divorce. The first presidential divorce, she reminds herself.

When her phone rings, she contemplates not answering. It's probably someone looking for help, looking for her to clean up a mess; and she was going to get her life together before she could help anyone else. She decides not to answer.

When it stops ringing, Olivia goes back to her pile of potential employees. The phone begins to ring again and she suppresses a scream.

"What?" She asks impatiently.

"Olivia," Olivia can actually feel her heart stutter.

"Mellie," she swallows thickly. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, we both want something and I think we can help each other out." She rubs her temples trying to ward off the slight headache that's forming at even the prospect of this conversation.

"I'm not-"

"Before you turn me down and cite loyalty to Fitz- hear me out."

"Fine," Olivia relents. She knows the sooner she gets Mellie off the phone, the better. She also knows that Fitz will be less than happy to hear about this conversation later.

"You want to be with Fitz openly without destroying his presidency?" Mellie phrases it as a question and Olivia knows she's waiting for confirmation from her.

"Yes."

"And I want to be president." She sighs immediately aware of where Mellie is headed with this conversation.

"I'm not working with you behind his back again, I won't do it." She says in a resolute tone. Olivia had allowed Mellie to push her around for years because she felt so guilty about falling in love with Fitz; but she refuses to do it anymore. She doesn't owe Mellie anything, and she certainly won't agree to anything that would jeopardize their relationship again.

"I plan on running in two years. If you agree to run my campaign, then I'll do Kimberly Mitchell with Fitz on Monday. I'll sing his praises, tell the American People that we couldn't cope with the loss of Jerry and all the pressures of the presidency, we just fell out of love. He's been so supportive, blah blah blah." Liv can't help the sigh that escapes her.

In theory, it is a good plan. If that was the story that Mellie and Fitz tried to sell, Liv has no doubt that most of America would buy it and be supportive of them in the end. But running Mellie's campaign…she can't see Fitz being okay with that. Mellie was a constant roadblock in their relationship for years and while she'll never be fully out of their lives, they do have the ability to manage how much access she has. Running her presidential campaign? That would be like selling her life to Mellie for at least a year.

"You know Fitz will never agree to this."

"That's not my problem." Olivia bites her tongue to stop herself from making a comment she knows she'll regret later. "Think about it and get back to me, Liv."

"I don't have to think about it, I won't agree." She says resolutely. She will not put herself in a place where she has to answer Mellie again. She doesn't owe Mellie anything, her marriage was long over before Olivia was even in the picture. Helping Mellie is not her responsibility.

"You're going to let me ruin Fitz's Presidency and your career just like that?" Mellie questions haughtily.

"You can't do that without ruining yours and I know how much this means to you. After all, you want to run for president in two years. Do you think you'll win if the whole world knows you were cheating on your husband with his VP?" Liv doesn't wait for Mellie to respond and just hangs up the phone.

She glances over at the clock and realizes Fitz was probably back in the Residence for the night. She figures she can make a quick trip to the White House before she heads home to alert him of the latest Mellie development. She knows he won't be happy, but hopefully he'll be content with the way she handled the situation. She remembers his words from this morning, about letting him deal with Mellie and she thinks maybe they should've made the decision together. But, she rationalizes, Fitz will absolutely say no deal, she knows he won't be on board. She grabs her purse and dials Charlotte to check Fitz's whereabouts as she rushes out of her office, eager to get this conversation over with.

* * *

Fitz is half-asleep on a couch in the Residence when a commotion just outside the door grabs his attention. Before he can investigate further, Olivia comes into the room- looking particularly frazzled.

"Hey, Livvie. I didn't know you were coming?" He's confused. It's not like Olivia to just show up without letting him know first, especially to the Residence.

"Yeah, I needed to talk to you." She tries to smile at him, but it doesn't reach her eyes. He feels his stomach drop. Is she here to end things? "Mellie called me today." He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before he starts yelling prematurely, but he can already sense where this conversation is headed.

"Did she?" He asks in a cold tone.

"She wanted to make a deal." He lets out a bark of laughter that's anything but happy. Of course she approached Olivia with the deal and not him. "She'll give you a divorce, do a joint interview in support, as long as I agree to be her campaign manager when she runs for President in two years." She says it all very quickly like she doesn't want to focus too much on what Mellie's asking for and Fitz assumes she's already agreed to it. After all, why wouldn't she? It was always anything to protect his presidency, even if it meant selling her soul to the Devil.

"Are you serious, Liv?!" He's trying to be calm, but he's already shouting. "Running her campaign? Were you even going to talk to me about this?!"

"I'm-" She begins, but he shakes his head and starts ranting again, cutting her off.

"Even if I thought Mellie was qualified to be President, I wouldn't want you to run her campaign. She's done nothing but try to get in between us and ruin what we have! Why don't you see that? Why are you still letting her call the shots?" He makes eye contact with Olivia and he can see indignation and anger swimming on her face, which just irritates him further. How dare she be mad at him when she was making deals with Mellie behind his back. "I told you to let me take care of the Mellie situation! Do you not trust me to deal with things? Or are you just looking for obstacles to put in our way?" He shouts.

"That's not fair." She says quietly, her eyes downcast.

"What's not fair is the way you're jerking me around. Are you in this, Liv, or not? Because if you're going to run away again, I'd prefer you do it sooner rather than later." He spits the last half of the sentence at her a little more harshly than he intends; but he's far too worked up to apologize. When he looks back up at her, she's angrily marching toward him with her eyes narrowed.

"I already told Mellie I wouldn't do it." She angrily informs him and he instantly feels guilty for yelling at her. He let Mellie's words and his own insecurities eat at him all day and then took the first opportunity he could to take it out on Liv. He opens his mouth to apologize, but she starts talking again. "How dare you yell at me before giving me a chance to explain myself!" She's waving her finger in his face and he grabs her hand, wrapping it up in his and stepping closer to her.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He says sincerely. "I shouldn't have yelled at you and I should have let you explain." He pulls her close to him and she goes, a bit hesitantly. He wraps his arms around her waist and after a second, Olivia relaxes and rests her forehead against his chest.

"And yes, I'm in this. Of course, I'm in this. I'm not going to run." He pulls back to look at her, needing the eye contact. He cups her face and brushes her cheek lightly with his thumb. Olivia looks somewhere over his shoulder for a second, before focusing on his face again. "I love you."

A smile stretches across his face and he feels warmth spread through his chest at her words. "I love you too." She smiles back at him, just as wide.

"So, we're in this together?" Fitz chuckles and nods, lowering his lips to hers.

"We're in this together."


	5. Let's Be Still

**Wooow, sorry this took me so long! School kind of took over my life for the week, but I hope you enjoy this update. I have a plan for the end of the next chapter, that should kick up the drama a bit (Mellie and Cyrus will be back). It's so hard to write Olitz angst when that's almost all we get from the show though. Thank you all for your reviews and favorites and follows!** **Anyway, how great was that premiere? Olivia going to Fitz and communicating her feelings! Who ever would've thought that would happen? Hopefully, tonight's episode will be just as good!**

* * *

 _The world's just spinning, a little too fast.  
If things don't slow down soon, we might not last.  
The world's not forgiving of everyone's fears.  
The days turn into months, the months turn into years.  
So, just for a moment-  
let's be still.  
_

 _\- The Head and the Heart, "Let's Be Still"_

* * *

Fitz sighs and raises his eyebrows at Olivia as she begins to ask him another question in an effort to prep him for Kimberly Mitchell tomorrow. She's been pacing back and forth by his bed for at least the past hour, running through question after question. At first he agreed, after all it's always necessary to prep for interviews to a certain degree, especially this one, but he has had enough. When she walks by him again, he reaches out and wraps an arm around her waist, yanking her down next to him on the bed. He grabs the pieces of paper out of her hands and tosses them onto floor.

"I think I'm ready." She huffs and rolls her eyes.

"You can never be too ready."

"I've given enough interviews over the course of my career, Liv." He reminds her, hoping she'll see things his way. He knows she's stressed over the public perception of his divorce, and Mellie's half-assed statement yesterday certainly didn't help, but he's just so sick of always worrying.

"I have a suggestion and I want you to hear me out before you say 'no.'" Olivia begins, her hand running lightly across his chest. He bites back a groan of annoyance and nods in acquiescence.

"Karen wants to do the interview with you." His whole body tenses and he immediately starts shaking his head.

"No."

"You said you would hear me out." Olivia reminds gently and he pouts. He doesn't want to put Karen back in the spotlight, she's had a hard time since Jerry's death and she doesn't need that kind of attention on her. He's trying to give her an opportunity to be a kid and he knows the divorce is going to make it complicated enough without her coming to the White House and doing a televised interview. "Karen called me earlier today asking a bunch of questions about it. I guess Mellie talked to her yesterday after her statement."

Fitz takes a deep breath and wills himself not to call Mellie and read her the riot act. Yesterday, after much hemming and hawing over the phone and one in person visit, he _finally_ got Mellie to make her official statement on the divorce. Of course she used words like "devastating" and "heartbreaking", but in the end she agreed to make it seem amicable. And while he had cajoled her into making a statement, she continues to refuse to do the interview with him and he still hasn't received her signature on the divorce papers, which she claims will be delivered tomorrow afternoon before the interview. His attention is brought back to the present when Liv speaks again.

"Mellie won't do the interview with you and her statement barely helped matters." She exclaims frustrated. "Support from your daughter, that could fix this!"

"I refuse to use my children for political gain!" He spits out angrily, annoyed that they're even having this conversation. Olivia takes a deep breath, he's assuming to stop herself from snapping back at him.

"It wouldn't be using her. She wants to be here for you, Fitz. We had a long conversation; she knows what she'd be getting into. She's very mature, let her decide what she can handle." She raises an eyebrow like she's waiting for him to fight back and he groans because he knows that she's right. Karen is mature, she's been through a lot and if Karen thinks that she can handle this, then he should let her.

"Fine," he mutters after a long moment of silence. Liv curls up next to him, forcing her way under his arm and leaning against his chest. He knows she's attempting to hide her victorious smile right now and he's kind of annoyed that she managed to hook him so easily. He brushes one of his hands through her curly locks.

"So, you had a long phone call with Karen?" The words peaked his curiosity, after all they were his two favorite ladies and he had spent large amounts of times imaging them getting along together. She nods into his chest.

"We have semi-regular phone conversations." Fitz sits up in bed, forcing Liv to sit up as well. She looks irritated at having to move, but he just raises a questioning eyebrow at her.

"Since when do you have semi-regular phone calls with Karen?" And why hadn't he heard about them from either party?

"Since I fixed that situation for her last year." Olivia shrugs and looks down at her hands. "I just-" She takes a deep breath and she fidgets. Fitz immediately knows whatever she's about to say will be important. After all, she rarely hesitates or gets nervous or tongue-tied.

"I see a lot of myself in Karen. Boarding school baby in pain, trying to do anything she can to ignore it or take it away. Even if it isn't the best move." She chuckles darkly and he would bet anything she's relieving moments of her own adolescence, a time in her life that he knows very little about. He puts his questions of that on hold for now though, reminding himself they'll have plenty of time to talk about things like this later. "I know she has Mellie, and you, but I-" Fitz cuts her off by grabbing one of her hands in his and reaches the other hand up to stroke her cheek. She looks up at him and he shakes his head, a soft smile on his face.

"Olivia Pope, you never cease to amaze me." He kisses her gently.

* * *

Liv has been flitting around the Residence for an hour now. She's talked to camera crews, make up artists, decorators, and Charlotte, who has been her right-hand woman throughout the whole process.

Karen is scheduled to arrive within the next ten minutes and Kimberly Mitchell is set to show up in another hour. She thinks her head may start spinning around if she has to deal with another mini crisis. She almost jumps out of her skin when a hand wraps around her wrist and yanks her into another room.

"Fitz!" She scolds the minute the door closes behind them. "There are a million people out there, you can't pull me into a room and close the door."

"First of all, we may be the worst kept secret in Washington. Secondly, I'm about to be a divorced man and I can be behind closed doors with whomever I want." He smirks and saunters towards her. She tries to keep scowling, but he just looks _so good._ "And third, if you keep going like you have been all morning, you're going to pass out from exhaustion before this interview can even happen." She nods, annoyed that of course he's right, but she's nervous.

"I want this to go okay for you." Olivia says quietly and looks up at him in hopes to convey how serious she is about it.

"Livvie, I need you to hear me when I say this. I am not worried about this interview. I'm not worried about my career; they can impeach me when they find out about us for all I care." He shrugs and throws his arms in the air, but she freezes up. Liv opens her mouth to interrupt him, but he shakes his head. "Obviously I won't do that today." _Thank God_ , she thinks, _they'll have enough fallout from the divorce alone._ "But the only thing I care about is that you and my kids are happy and safe with me. Everything else? That's just an added bonus, okay?"

She nods in agreement, but her mind is still working overtime. She knows he means it. She's not worried that he'll resent her because she cost him his career. He spent the past year being the best President he could possibly be, and she knows he's proud of himself. And she is too.

"Okay, but I don't want you to have to sacrifice your career. All I'm asking is that we be cautious to save what little face you have left after your divorce scandal." She reminds him, half teasing and half-serious. Fitz chuckles.

"Fine, I'll behave." He agrees as he wraps his arms around her waist and takes another step towards her. She places both her hands on his chest, looking up at him. He grins charmingly and it's that smile that gets her every time. The _'let's be inappropriate'_ smile. The one that she has never, in all the time that she's known Fitzgerald Grant, been able to resist. She rolls her eyes at him, but the giggle that follows gives away her true feelings.

"You're not behaving, President Grant." She warns. Her voice takes on a low, seductive quality unintentionally and she feels her whole body flush at the way Fitz's gaze darkens as his eyes rake up and down her body.

"Oh?" One of his hand slides slowly down her back and he gives her ass one hard squeeze. She squeals in surprise, smothering her grin against his chest. She's about to lean in and kiss him when there's a knock at the door and it opens suddenly.

Elizabeth North steps in and Liv barely suppresses a groan. She begins to move away from Fitz, but he just holds her tighter. Elizabeth smiles, what Olivia knows is a fake smile and what Fitz seems to take as genuine.

"Sir, a delivery for you from Senator Mellie Grant's office." Although she's talking to Fitz, the entire time she speaks she looks directly at Olivia. She almost laughs at Elizabeth's audacity. She gets the message loud and clear, _Mellie Grant, his wife._ But Liv couldn't really care less about Mellie at this point, divorce was inevitable.

"Ah, thank you. I've been expecting this." He smiles at her with a strange expression on his face that Liv doesn't quite understand. He opens the envelope that Elizabeth had handed to him. Olivia watches as he eagerly flips through the pages, a boyish grin on his face. As he reaches the final page, his gaze rises to rest on her again and the grin on his face lights up the entire room.

"She signed, Livvie." He says softly. He holds the paper in front of her face and a weight she didn't even realize was there lifts off her chest as she looks at Mellie's signature on the Petition for Divorce.

Fitz carefully walks over to the bed and places the papers on the nightstand, before deliberately walking back towards her. She assumes that Elizabeth is still in the room, but that hardly matters to her. All of a sudden, Fitz wraps his arms tightly around her waist and lifts her off the ground. Her arms grab his neck as he spins her in a circle.

"This is good." He whispers into her ear, setting her down on her feet and letting her body slide down his. She sighs, torn between immense relief and anxiety.

"This is good." She agrees trying to feel as confident as he sounds. Liv quickly separates from Fitz when Charlotte calls her from the other side of the door. She shoots him a flirtatious smile as she heads out the door. "Go get ready, I have work to do."

* * *

Fitz exits the dressing room sometime later, dressed in a navy blue suit with a white dress shirt. He holds several tie options in his hands and looks around the room for Olivia. However he's distracted when he spots Karen off to the side of the room. He takes a moment just to watch her as she talks to one of his staffers about something- he can't help but marvel at how much she's grown, especially in the last year. He smiles to himself as he heads in her direction.

"Hi, Dad!" Karen smiles when she spots him coming over. She meets him halfway and he wraps her up in a hug.

"Hey, it's good to see you." He presses a kiss to her forehead. "Thanks for doing this." She shrugs.

"It's not a big deal."

"It is. And it's really going to help me. I know your mom probably isn't happy about this-" Karen waves him off.

"Mom's fine. I'm going to one of her Senate events next weekend to make up for it." She rolls her eyes, but there's a genuine smile on her face. Father and daughter are both silent for a minute, observing the chaos that's surrounds the room. "Where's Liv, by the way? She said she would be here." It's then that he remembers his original intent when he had come out here and he looks around for her again. He's surprised when Olivia materializes next to Karen, seemingly out of nowhere.

"There you two are!"

"Where have you been?" He questions, eyeing her frazzled appearance. She waves him off and turns her attention to his daughter.

"Liv!"

"Karen!" They greet each other and Fitz can't wipe the smile off of his face when Karen pulls a surprised Liv into a tight hug. When they move away from each other, Liv fixes her gaze on him.

"Where is your tie?" She asks critically, one eyebrow raised. He grins sheepishly and holds up the three ties that are draped on his arm. She smirks and chooses a plain red tie, then steps forward to tie it around his neck

"You'd think you'd be better at this by now, Mr. President." Liv jokes as her hands straighten out her work, smoothing the tie against his chest. He shrugs.

"I had to make sure my tie was approved by fashion guru Olivia Pope."

"Speaking of being a fashion guru," Karen says and Fitz suddenly remembers she's standing there. He looks over at her, but her eyes are trained on Olivia. "I need a dress for a dance at school next week and I was hoping to get your opinion while I was here?" For a second, Fitz has to pinch himself to make sure this is actually his reality and not another dream.

"Of course," Liv instantly agrees. "Tomorrow?" Karen nods. "Okay, you are ready." She says as she buttons his jacket. "Kimberly wants to talk to you alone first, about halfway through, we'll bring Karen in." He notices that Liv's hands are fluttering nervously and he encloses them in his gently to stop her movements. He drops her hands once he has her attention and looks into her eyes.

"I've got this." He hopes the confidence in his tone rubs off on her. This interview is the first in a series of steps that will eventually allow them to go public and he understands why she's nervous. She wouldn't be the Olivia he knows and loves if she wasn't freaking out about this. But for once in his life he feels genuinely content and he just wants her to feel it too.

"I know you do." She smiles and this time it reaches her eyes.

"Good." He strolls off toward the set for the interview, giving one last glance to Olivia and Karen.

Eventually he's set up in the correct position under the hot lights, sitting face to face to Kimberly Mitchell, a woman he's literally giving the interview of a lifetime to. He takes one deep breath, shaking off the last of his nervousness. He's ready to live in his truth…well, almost his truth.

"Mr. President, it's nice to see you again." Fitz slaps on a charming smile.

"It's always good to see you, Kimberly."

"Should we start with why I'm here?" He nods.

"Well, I'm being a bit unorthodox over here and getting a divorce."

"A bit unorthodox? You're about to be the only President to divorce his wife while still in office." Kimberly crosses her legs and fixes him with her gaze, but after years of intimidating reporters- well, he's barely affected by her heavy stare. _Bring it on,_ he thinks.

"Yes, you're right. But, like everyone else, I'm just a person and I go through hard times, I have faults."

"Are you saying the divorce is your fault?" His gaze finds Olivia's and she nods, encouraging him to answer the question. He takes a deep breath and looks back at Kimberly. He'll just be as honest as he can without sinking his own ship.

"I wouldn't say that either of us are to blame. Sometimes…" Fitz struggles to find the words to explain the breakdown of his marriage without unveiling the whole truth. "People change, people grow- the man who I was when I married Mellie is not the same person I am today." No that man was the man who would do anything for his father's approval, the man who became Governor of California without even being sure about a career in politics, the man who let his wife and father make every single decision for him."And the same is true for her. The people we became just weren't compatible and we forced it for so long for the sake of optics and approval ratings."

Fitz shakes his head, his mouth turned into a grim line. "It wasn't worth it anymore. I want to be happy and I want Mellie to be happy and that couldn't happen with us still trapped in our marriage." Kimberly nods understandingly, but he can see the judgment underneath the surface.

"What do you have to say to the American people who expect you to be a role model?" He chuckles.

"Divorce doesn't make me any less of a role model. Are you saying that any divorced parents out there cannot be role models for their children?" He shakes his head and forces himself not to get agitated and defensive. "What it comes down to is that I want to be the best President that I can be and it's a lot easier to do that when I am content in my personal life."

"Several years ago, it was rvealed you had a relationship with White House Staffer, Jeanine Locke. Did your affair have anything to do with your decision?"

"No. Mellie and I worked through the problems of my affair years ago. Although an affair is a symptom, not a cause." Kimberly leans forward, intrigued.

"Care to elaborate?"

"Happily married people don't have affairs, Kimberly, as I'm sure you know." He says glancing at her wedding ring. "So, the problem wasn't the cheating, it was figuring out why I cheated."

"I suppose you're right about that, sir. So, I think the most important question is, 'what now?'" He smirks and crosses his legs, leaning against the armrest.

"As someone so eloquently put it the other day, now it's whatever I want." Fitz looks over at Olivia, who's shaking her head at him. She's trying to give him a stern, but the corner of her lips are turned up just enough to let him know he's not in too much trouble.

* * *

Olivia has to resist the urge to collapse on the floor in relief at the friendly banter happening between Fitz, Karen, and Kimberly. Things had gotten a little tense between Kimberly and Fitz and she was worried that the entire interview would come crashing down on them. Fitz really is sticking to his guns this time and he left no room for interpretation. He is divorcing Mellie, she had signed the papers, this is real.

"Before we wrap this up, I just have one last question," Kimberly smiles sweetly and Liv knows what the question is before she even asks. She braces herself for the answer. "You're about to become America's Most Eligible Bachelor, any thoughts on who the new First Lady will be? Besides your lovely daughter," Kimberly adds, not allowing him to dodge the question. The grin that stretches across Fitz's face makes Olivia's heart stutter.

"Yeah, I've got someone in mind." She wants to be mad. He's just opened himself up to endless speculation, but he looks so happy. And the gleam in his eyes is directed at her and how could she possibly be angry. _God, she loves him._

"Any hints?"

"Well, I haven't even gotten her to agree to a first date yet, so I think I should keep this to myself." Karen rolls her eyes and lightly elbows Fitz in the side.

"She's going to say 'yes', Dad." Her stomach drops when Karen subtly glances her way and Fitz looks just as surprised as she feels.

"Wow and she already has First Daughter approval," Kimberly interjects, still fishing for information. "She must be a very lucky lady." Fitz recovers more quickly than her from the shock of Karen knowing about them and switches right back to his charming self.

"Oh, I think I'm the lucky one, Kimberly."

Hours later, after Karen conveniently left her and Fitz alone, citing the need to spend time with Teddy; Olivia relaxes next to him on the couch.

"It's too soon for you to be dating publically." She mumbles into his chest as she works on loosening his tie. He sighs.

"It's always going to be too soon, Liv. We're going to get backlash no matter when we do this. I don't want to waste anymore time."

She knows he's right to a certain degree, but that doesn't make her any less hesitant or nervous. They're both risking everything here and Fitz, as usual, is ready to dive head first into it all. But Olivia can't turn off her fixer brain and accept the scandal coming their way. She's been wired, designed, to fix problems before they can even become a problem. She doesn't know how to respond to him. Part of her wants to ignore the conversation altogether and distract him with something else, but this is something they need to talk about eventually.

"I'm scared." She admits quietly. "I am in this with you, but I'm still scared, Fitz. I'm scared that once we have the media on our backs criticizing every single move we make that we won't get out of this together. I'm worried it will be too much and then we've both sacrificed our careers and in the end we'll have nothing." She chokes out, trying desperately to keep the tears out of her voice. Fitz tilts her head and forces her to make eye contact with him.

"Olivia Pope," he leans forward to brush a light kiss against her lips. "I am never letting you go again. And if the press won't leave us alone, well, we have a conveniently placed house in the Vermont countryside to hide out in." She laughs lightly at that, but shakes her head.

"This isn't going to be easy." He huffs and she can tell that he's trying not to get frustrated with her, but this is how their relationship has always been. He's the idealist and she's the pragmatist, sometimes to a fault. "I'm not trying to be difficult, I just want to be realistic."

"Okay, realistically, I do not plan on spending another day away from you." He gazes down at her openly, waiting with bated breath for her reply and she nods.

"Give me a month? Give us a month?" His eyebrows crease in question. "A month for us to get ourselves together, for you to deal with the end of your marriage, for me to get to know your kids. I want just a month for us, before I have to share you and our relationship with everyone else."

"Okay, one month before our first public date." He easily agrees. He adjusts their positions so he's stretched out underneath her and she's lying on top of him. "But I request at least ten to fifteen private dates before then." She can't help the hearty laugh that escapes her.

"Ten to fifteen, huh?"

"I need three a week at minimum," he grins and kisses her.

"Is that manageable for the Leader of the Free World?"

"I'll work out a schedule later." He mumbles into her neck and she runs her hands through his hair. "But, right now, I just want to lay on this couch with you."


End file.
